Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
Changes to standards for concrete have been published by BSI, the business improvement and standards company, and could save 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
It is one of the most significant changes to the traditional concrete “recipe” for making concrete since the 1980s, is set to be introduced in the UK, helping architects and engineers decarbonise the construction of buildings.
Elaine Toogood, director, architecture and sustainable design at the Concrete Centre, said: “In a climate emergency, this new approved standard is important to helping architects and engineers significantly lower embodied manufacturing emissions today and, in the future, delivering structural strength in buildings and infrastructure.
“Providing a new generation of concretes are an important part of the UK concrete and cement industry’s roadmap to net zero alongside other technologies including the use of decarbonised transport, fuel switching and Carbon Capture, Usage or Storage (CCUS) technology.”
The new specification changes are part of a rigorous research and testing process over two years with the results then independently assessed for inclusion into the standard by the BSI technical committee for concrete.
The concrete and cement industry has a strong track record of decarbonisation, having already delivered a 53% reduction in absolute carbon emissions since 1990 and is decarbonising, as a whole, faster than the UK economy.
